Gov. Patrick cuts ribbon to open drug company's new labs

Gov. Deval Patrick further championed his $1 billion life sciences initiative today by helping cut the ribbon on Cubist Pharmaceuticals’ new expanded laboratory and headquarters in Lexington.

Ian B. Murphy

Gov. Deval Patrick further championed his $1 billion life sciences initiative today by helping cut the ribbon on Cubist Pharmaceuticals’ new expanded laboratory and headquarters in Lexington.

Patrick thanked Cubist for its work in Massachusetts and commended the state’s growing biomedical industry.

“This is where cures are being made for diseases that are currently considered incurable,” Patrick said. “This is where suffering will be relieved, and you will make it happen.”

Cubist created 35,000 square feet of lab space in the expansion, with a total addition of 87,000 square feet in the last year. The company added 50 new fume hoods, high field nuclear magnetic resonance capabilities, and 3D molecular modeling.

Cubist’s largest product is cubicin, an antibiotic that treats methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), or treatment-resistant staph infections. By expanding the company’s labs, other drugs in its pipeline can be researched, developed, and produced much quicker.

Steven Gilman, a senior vice president at Cubist, thanked the town for its interest and cooperation in growing the business in Lexington.

“We established a very difficult timeline for the completion of this lab, and that wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the town of Lexington,” he said.

Norman Cohen, chairman of the Board of Selectman, said he was pleased to see businesses developing and succeeding and expanding in town.

“It’s very encouraging in these tough economic times that we have a company of this caliber who is growing in Lexington and staying for the future.”

Patrick was in Lexington in May to help break ground at Shire Pharmaceutical’s new $394 million facility on Spring Street, an expansion also promoted by the governor’s life science initiative.